U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,269 discloses a center plate assembly in which a pair of longitudinally spaced plates are welded to the center sill to define a rectangular pocket. A center plate member includes an upper top portion which extends into the pocket and a base portion which is larger than the pocket and rests in the truck bowl. The base portion is welded to the edges of the pocket to form an integral assembly.
However, if the center plate member must be replaced, the welds between the center plate member and the pocket must be burned out. This causes damage to center sill, the spaced plates and to the center plate member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,140 discloses an elastomeric member located between a laterally preshortened car body member and a railway truck bowl. The patent states that the elastomeric member carries both vertical and horizontal loads between the car body and the truck. U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,400 discloses a railway car center plate assembly including a laterally foreshortened car body member and an elastomeric pad bonded to the car body member and to a wear plate located in the truck bowl. However these constructions require a nonstandard, specially formed, laterally foreshortened car body member which is not currently in use in the railway industry.
One object of the present invention is to provide a railway car center plate assembly which does not require modification of the standard car body members or the truck bowl.
Another object of the invention is to provide a railway car center plate assembly including a wear member located in the truck bowl wherein the wear member can be replaced without burning out the center plate member from the center sill.